Home Furniture, Plumbing, Heating, & Electrical

How to Stay Cool With No Air Conditioning

No AC? If you’re burning up in the summer heat and don’t have any air conditioning, you can still do certain things to keep yourself cool. Here are some of our best tips to keep your home cool if you don’t have air conditioning, or if your AC unit is broken and you’re waiting for repair.

1. Open your windows at night, and close them during the day.

It might seem like opening your windows 24 hours a day is the best way to get fresh air flowing through your home. However, if you leave your windows open during the hottest part of the day, all that hot air will have easy access to enter your home and heat it up to be equal with the outdoor temperature. A better solution for most homes that have proper insulation is to open your windows at night when the temperatures are cooler, and then close them in the morning when the day starts to heat up.

2. Stay in the lower story of your home.

Heat rises, so if you’re unable to sleep in your upstairs bedroom because you’re so hot, try sleeping on the ground floor, or even better, in the basement if you have one.

3. Avoid using the oven.

Depending on the quality of your oven’s insulation, it could be a huge culprit in heating up your kitchen and making your whole house a little hotter. Look for summer recipes that don’t require you to cook things in the oven, or fire up your outdoor grill to avoid producing extra heat.

4. Drink tons of ice-cold water.

You’d be surprised how well it works to chill your body from the inside out. Ice-cold water is one of summer’s most simple luxuries, and it not only hydrates you, drinking a lot of it can slightly lower your body temperature. Just be sure to consume enough electrolytes along with your water if you’re drinking all through the day.

5. Higher ceilings mean cooler rooms.

Did you ever notice how older homes tend to have 9-foot instead of 8-foot ceilings? If you’re lucky enough to have higher ceilings in your home, you’ll feel cooler in the summer, because all the hottest air will concentrate in that extra foot of height on your ceiling, leaving your living space just a bit cooler.

6. Moisture cools you down.

Your body’s own sweat system can give you a hint: Moisture evaporating off your skin is a very effective way to cool you down. However, sweating is a super-uncomfortable way to do it. Why not try a damp bandanna or Buff ® on your head or around your neck? A squirt bottle full of cool water can also be a good option to carry around to give yourself a cool mist from time to time.

7. Don’t forget the fans.

Ceiling fans, box fans, and oscillating fans don’t use a ton of electricity and they can go a long way towards cooling you down.

You can stay somewhat cool in the summer using these tips, but why not enjoy truly cool air by getting an air conditioner installed? Home Furniture, Plumbing & Heating is here for all your summer cooling needs. Call us today.